Chiaki's Promise: I WILL Protect Maron!
by Honest Beauty
Summary: Set btwn ep 39-40. Myst decides to take a leaf out of Noin's book w/ devastating results. Will Chiaki be able to keep the promise he made in ep 35, or will an act of evil be carried out that will destroy Maron and Chiaki? Rated M to be safe. Pls R


Chiaki's Promise: I WILL Protect Maron!

By: Honest Beauty

Disclaimer: Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, its original plot and character do not belong to me. I'm simply borrowing them for my own pleasure. (note: this fic is based on the anime, though dagger idea came from manga)

Myst floated over the city of Momokuri, reflecting on all the times she had tried to kill Jeanne. Almost every time she had set a demon after her or attacked her herself, Kaitou Sinbad had gotten in her way, one way or another.

But especially whenever Jeanne had been hurt or her barrier had weakened. That damn Sinbad would always be there, protecting her. But if Sinbad were out of the equation…or even better…

"Maybe Noin did have a point when he said the most effective way to bring down an enemy is by weakening their heart, using their emotions against them. And Jeanne is very weak right now, because she feels responsible for the human boy's death. This is perfect!" the child sized demon crowed to herself, popping a dark purple candy in her mouth.

She then dug through her still open candy box and found the other two candies she was looking for: a yellow one and a teal one. Neither seemed any different from the others, but Myst knew better. Still giggling to herself, the demon disappeared.

Chiaki Nagoya wearily entered his apartment, Access flying above his right shoulder.

"Are you alright, Sinbad? You look upset." The dark angel commented, fluttering around to get a good look at his partner's face as Chiaki entered his bathroom, stumbling a bit in the dark. Chiaki sighed and flicked on the lights.

"I'm fine, Access. My back's just bothering me a bit from that needle attack." The young man answered, going over to his mirror. He stripped off his shirt, so he was bare from the waist up and turned around, grabbing a hand mirror.

He held the mirror up, inspecting his back. It wasn't as bad as the time he deflected demon fire or the time he stopped Myst's attack, but it still hurt. His back was red where the needles had hit him, and it was probably going to bruise, but at least he wasn't burned or bleeding.

Putting the mirror back down, Chiaki pulled his shirt back on, wincing in slight pain as he did so. His body healed much faster now that he was a Kaitou. And if it was really serious, Access would heal him as much as he could, so he would be able to go to school and not attract attention and be able to continue helping Maron. Speaking of Maron…

"Why? Why does she walk into these traps so willingly, so confidently?"

"Maybe because she's confident that God will protect her. Or maybe it the fact that she knows that you will always be there to protect her." Access said floating in front of Chiaki's face. Chiaki sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Why do you do that anyways?"

"Huh? Do what?"

"Protect her. Even when it hurts you to."

"Because I promised her, promised _myself_ that I would protect her. That and…" Chiaki paused, his eyes dark with emotion, face serious. Access looked askance at his partner, who sighed and brought a foot up to rest his chin on his knee.

"You really, truly love her don't you, S-Chiaki?" the angel asked quietly, remembering that his partner had asked him to call him Sinbad only when he was transformed. The young man on the bed closed his eyes, inhaled deeply and opened them.

"Yes. I love her with all my heart Access." Chiaki stated softly but firmly. The angel threw his arms in the air and gave an exasperated sigh.

"_Finally_! I knew that you had fallen for her ages ago, but only now do you actually admit it!" Access said with a smile. Chiaki grinned up at his partner dryly and started to retort. But his words died on his lips when Access suddenly clutched his head and started sinking in the sir.

"Access! What wrong?" Chiaki exclaimed, jumping to his feet, holding his hands out to catch the angel.

"There a demon nearby. A powerful one." Access gritted out, groaning slightly in pain.

"Hold strong Access. Where is the demon?" Chiaki asked looking down at his partner. Access was about to answer when a different voice spoke from above and behind Chiaki.

"I'm right here, Sinbad." Chiaki gasped and whirled. There was Myst, floating in his bedroom.

"Chiaki, henshin!" Access ordered, taking flight. Chiaki nodded, crossed his arms over his chest, hands fisted, and closed his eyes. A shell of blue power enveloped him for a second before disappearing, leaving a bandana-less Kaitou Sinbad standing where Chiaki had been.

Sinbad opened his cobalt eyes and sank into a defensive fighting stance.

"What do you want Myst?" he asked curtly, glancing at his partner, who was still in pain from Myst's aura. Myst smirked and held up her hand.

"I'm here to destroy Jeanne." With that threat, the demon shot a globe of transparent energy at Access. The angel wasn't able to dodge in time and was trapped in the orb. Access yelled in agony and curled into a ball, shaking uncontrollably.

"Access!" Sinbad gasped and turned to rescue his partner. But Myst directed the globe up out of Sinbad's reach, making it come to a stop beside her. She then held up a yellow candy.

"Do you know what this is?"She asked smirking as Sinbad glared at her. "It's a demon, a demon that's going to possess you and make you torture then kill Jeanne!" Myst said gleefully. Sinbad felt his eyes widen and he saw Access' widen as well.

"You can try." Sinbad said cockily, covering his surprise and apprehension with a confidant smirk and threw his tri-boomerang at Myst. The demon evaded the weapon, flicking the candy at him. Sinbad didn't have time to dodge and the yellow orb sank into his right outer thigh, halfway between his knee and hip.

Sinbad choked off his yell of pain as he clutched where the candy entered him and waged war against the demon that fought to possess him. Grateful for the strength he possessed as Kaitou Sinbad, Chiaki fought against demon, though it was hard and painful.

Above him Myst saw that her demon was fighting a doomed battle. So she grabbed the teal candy and sent it flying at the young man. Access saw it and tried to shout a warning, but the globe was draining his energy.

"Sinbad! Look out!" the angel tiredly gasped despite his efforts to yell. The young man heard anyway, but was unable to do anything other than look up as the candy sped towards him.

This candy hit just to the left of his navel, sending waves of acidic fire throughout his body. Sinbad screamed shortly in pain and dropped to one knee, clutching both his leg and stomach as he waged an internal war against the two demons.

The demons were able to overpower the young man, but just barely. Myst sniffed and lowered herself to stand on the floor in front of Sinbad. _Those two will have their hands full just _

_keeping control over his body and trapping his soul. They won't be able to kill Jeanne. Oh well, __**this**__ one will do the trick._ She thought, taking the purple candy from her mouth and flicking at Sinbad, whose eyes were now open and still human.

Sinbad saw the third candy come at him, but his body no longer responded to his commands. The candy hit his chest, just below his heart. It sank into his body, bringing with it another wave of agony. Sinbad would've screamed, but his vocal cords were paralyzed at the demons' orders.

He felt the three demons (one immensely stronger than the other two) teamed up against him and forced his consciousness into a corner of his mind and trapping him there. _Damn you!_ Sinbad shouted from his prison as the demons smirked in his mind. Chiaki immediately realized that he still had all of his senses, but he could no longer dictate his movements or use his voice.

"_**He's trapped now, Myst-sama."**_ The strongest demon said. Myst nodded as Access looked on in horror. Sinbad stood up and the angel could see that his body didn't display any of the usual signs of being possessed.

"Good. But use the human's voice, not your own. I want Jeanne to think that he's doing this of his own will." The child-like demon smirked and laughed. Sinbad's lips twisted into an evil smirk. Access then thought of something

_But the Petit Claire will still go off!_ Access thought, though he was dangerously close to losing consciousness. He then saw Myst make a gesture at him. The angel felt and saw his cage disappear, but he was so drained that he simply fell. Luckily, Access landed on his hands and knees on the floor rug, so he didn't get hurt.

Falling onto his side and looking up, the angel saw Myst start talking to the demon controlled Sinbad. Access strained to catch what she said.

"…sent a decoy demon out earlier to lure Jeanne into position. You will then kill her. Play with her a bit first though." The demon instructed and disappeared. The demon possessing Sinbad nodded and then laughed, using Sinbad's voice. The possessed Kaitou then left the room to find Jeanne.

"Shimatta …I have to warn Jeanne. Sinbad will hate himself forever if he hurts Maron, even if it wasn't his fault." Access thought fuzzily then passed out cold, his energy used up.

Jeanne bounded from rooftop to rooftop. She had found out that Shin Yamada, a classmate of hers, had been possessed by a demon. This time the demon was hiding in a ceramic sculpture he had made, which was on display in her school's library.

As she came to rest in a tall tree, Jeanne surveyed the situation. There was Miyako, looking confidant and eager for the chase as usual. There was her father Detective Toudaiji and his underlings Haruta-san, Natsuda-san, Akita-san, and Fuyuta-san. Iinchou was there as well.

"No doubt she has an elaborate trap set up for me." the Kaitou giggled to herself. She jumped down and ran towards Momokuri Academy, exclaiming "Game Start!"

A few minutes later Jeanne had slipped into the library and found the target. Yamada-san was with Miyako and Iinchou. The blonde Kaitou checkmated the demon just as Miyako and everyone else arrived on the second floor of the library. Jeanne was on the level below, so all the others could do was lean over the railing and glare at the triumphant Kaitou.

Yamada-san dropped to the floor when she had sealed the demon and had just climbed back to his feet, a confused expression on his face.

"I have stolen another deceptive beauty tonight!" she exclaimed and leaped up to the open window she had come through. And bounced off a demon barrier. "Ow!" Jeanne said as she landed on the floor.

Looking around she could see the barrier now, a globe that encompassed the floor she was on and most of the second. But the barrier remained transparent enough for the people on the second floor to see her.

She got out her ribbon to see if it could break through it. She spared a glance at Miyako and the others. They had discovered the barrier as well, being right on the other side of it, and Miyako looked pissed and worried at the same time, a odd combination.

Jeanne found that the ribbon didn't work and was contemplating her next move when she heard footsteps behind her. She whirled, ribbon wand at the ready to find Kaitou Sinbad walking out of the shadows.

"C-Sinbad! There you are. I was wondering if you weren't going to show up. Do you have any ideas on how we can break the barrier?" She said as he got closer, turning back around to look past the barrier. She had almost said 'Chiaki' but she was sure that Miyako would hear her. Jeanne then noticed that Sinbad remained oddly quiet, so she turned around to look at him.

Just in time to see Sinbad rush her. He slammed her up against the nearest bookcase end, leaving her with a good view of Miyako and the others on the second floor.

"Sinbad! What are you—!" Jeanne was cut off by Sinbad slamming his lips on her with enough force to bruise. Her violet eyes widened and she tried to pull away but he had her wrists pinned beside her ears with his hands and his body trapped hers.

The kiss wasn't anything like the ones he had given her before. It was harsh, cruel and forceful. It felt like he was assaulting her, and Maron started to panic even as she felt tears start to fall down her cheeks. She saw that his eyes were open and had a cruel, evil glint in them.

_No, Kami-sama, no! Stop it! Don't make me do this to her!_ Chiaki yelled in his mind, unable to control his body, and unable to block out what his body was doing. All of his senses still delivered every sensation to him, and Chiaki was incapable of blocking them, neither was he able to not feel what his body was touching and what it was feeling. Chiaki felt nauseous, mortified and guilt stricken by what the demon were forcing him to do. But even worse than that…

_**Why? Why should we stop? You're enjoying this.**_ The demons voices' melded together to form one terrible whole. The voice chuckled cruelly as Chiaki's soul squirmed in acute shame and mortification. Much as he wanted to deny it, Chiaki had to admit that the demons were right. His body **was** enjoying this, heat rushed through his body and his loins tightened painfully.

Chiaki was pretty sure that the demons were responsible for his body's reactions, but there was the chance that it wasn't them and just his own body, his own desires. And that was what sickened Chiaki the most. He curled into a fetal position, trying to escape from the sensations flooding him, while the demons laughed maliciously.

_**Yes, much as you try to deny it, you're enjoying this. Especially if we do…this!**_ Chiaki cried out in distress as the demon made his body pin Maron's hands over her head with one hand, and used the newly freed hand grab Maron's breast callously. At the same time, Chiaki felt his mouth continue to rape Maron's and the demons made him grind his hips into hers, making Chiaki gag at the rush of heat and twisted pleasure all three actions caused.

_Kami, Maron stop me. Stop me, hurt me, do something, anything, before the demons make me actually rape you!_ Chiaki wailed in his mind, seeing the terror, pain and confusion 

swirling in her violet eyes. Then, Chiaki heard the frantic beeping of her petit Claire over the rush of blood in mind.

Then through the fog of her panic and chaotic emotions, Maron heard the frantic beeping of the Petit Claire. _A demon! But where…Chiaki! A demon must be possessing him!_ Maron thought. The possessed Sinbad continued to assault her, his tongue ruthlessly invading her mouth, gripping her breast painfully and grinding his body against hers in a way that made her feel sick and worthless, even as she realized what her best course of action was to get away from him.

_Chiaki…I'm sorry._ Maron thought as she brought her knee up sharply, catching him in the crotch. His lips left hers with a gasp as he staggered back about a meter, clutching himself. Maron hurriedly scrubbed her lips and readied her ribbon.

"What's the demon possessing? Where is it?" she asked herself out loud.

Even as Chiaki wept, or would have if he could, with agony, he thanked God. Though it had and still did hurt terribly when Maron had struck his hardened loins with her knee, she had freed herself of Chiaki's assault and forced his body away from her.

But the demons were quickly forcing his body to ignore the pain and stand back up. _**Human bodies. So weak and frail. One blow almost does them in.**_ the main demon said scathingly.

From the shadows, Myst grinned and decided to finally make appearance.

Maron looked at Sinbad, unsure of what to do. While she hesitated the possessed young man recovered. He started to come forward again and Maron raised her ribbon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Jeanne. The demons are possessing his body, not an object around him. If you checkmate him…" Myst's taunting voice came from above her. Maron gasped in shock and looked up to see the redheaded demon grin and disappear with a malicious giggle.

Biting her lip as a vision of Zen-kun dying in his mother's arms flashed in front of her eyes, Jeanne lowered her eyes to look at Sinbad. More tears slid down her cheeks as her mind called up an image of Chiaki dying in her arms.

Myst hadn't left, merely disappeared back to her hiding spot. She grinned. Now things would get interesting.

Miyako was sorely confused by what was happening below her. A quick glance to her father and the other five around her showed that they were just as confused as she. Yamada-san had left shortly after they had discovered the barrier.

Back inside the barrier, Maron was still torn with indecision. She was so preoccupied that she didn't see Sinbad rushing at her until too late. She saw Sinbad's right hand dart forward and grab her ribbon wand in her right hand. He quickly yanked it from her grasp and tossed it away. His gloved left hand then curled around her throat as he slammed her back and head up against the bookcase again.

Maron fought for air as she felt the demon raise her up so that her booted toes barely brushed the ground. Her eyes were still open so she saw the sadistic grin warp Sinbad's face and the evil lurking in his deep blue eyes.

Both of her hands rose to grip his left arm, tying vainly to break his iron grip. Then she saw his right hand reach inside his coat. But instead of pulling out his folded up tri-boomerang, Sinbad pulled out a six inch dagger.

Maron felt her eyes widen to their limit as the possessed Kaitou raised the dagger to a striking position. Her eyes slid back to look at Sinbad's face and received another shock. Even though his face was still twisted in a malicious grin, Sinbad's cobalt eyes were now blank and without emotion, and there were tears forming in both eyes.

_Chiaki…_ Maron thought, her heart tightening painfully at the sight of those tears. _He's aware of what his body is doing. God, this must more painful for him than me!_ But she didn't have any more time to continue on that train of thought as she saw Sinbad pull his arm back a little farther and aim for her heart.

_No! Damn it, I won't let you use my body to kill the only one I love!_ Chiaki raged in his mind, his anger, desperation and willpower coming together to break through his prison.

The dagger descended swiftly. Maron closed her eyes, bracing herself for the dagger's impact even as she heard Miyako scream in horror in the background. A second later Maron herself screamed in pain. Not from the pain of the dagger piecing her heart, but from the pain of the dagger plunging into her left shoulder, sinking deep enough to scrape the bone.

Opening her eyes and peering past her tears, Maron looked down to see the dagger protruding from her shoulder, Sinbad's gloved hand gripping the hilt tightly, blood soaking her white outer sleeves crimson.

Daring to hope, Maron then looked up to Sinbad's face. Tears were now falling freely down his cheeks as his expression changed from confused to angered.

"Damn human. You really don't know when you've lost have you?" Sinbad growled in annoyance as his body shook. The shaking mostly centered on his right arm and fist, causing the dagger to quiver in Maron's shoulder.

Maron whimpered in pain as Sinbad's left hand tightened around her neck and the dagger continued to quiver. Maron saw Chiaki's soul through his blue eyes, and saw that he was clearly in pain and was guilt and grief stricken. Maron tried to convey through her gaze that she didn't blame him, that she still loved him, but Chiaki was busy trying to reclaim some control of his body.

Sinbad's breathing grew harsh and broken as he fought the demons controlling him. A snarl of anger marred the possessed Kaitou's face, reflecting the demons' anger. They thought they had won when Chiaki slowly lost the tenuous control he had gained over his body, but that was merely a distraction. Chiaki wasn't trying to expel the demons or gain total control, but just gain control over a specific part of his body.

Confidant that the human was done, the main demon made Sinbad's face grin and pulled the blood coated dagger from Jeanne's shoulder, making the wounded Kaitou hiss in pain, and raised it again. Maron felt her heart sink as she saw that the bloody tip was once again aimed at her heart and the tears flooded down Sinbad's face. She closed her violet eyes, unable to look into Chiaki's grief and guilt clouded eyes any more.

Chiaki waited in his corner, letting the demon think that he had been defeated. He waited until the demons had raised the dagger fully before he struck, gaining total control of his arm for the few crucial seconds that he needed. Dimly he saw Maron close her eyes as he braced himself for the pain.

Maron heard the cloth of Sinbad's jacket rustle as his arm swung and she braced herself for impact. But the sharp, searing pain of the dagger never came. Instead she felt Sinbad's fingers spasm around her throat and heard the inhuman scream of a demon in pain, and the strangled scream of a human male in anguish.

Maron opened her eyes as Sinbad's left hand release her neck. She slid to the floor coughing and holding her bruised throat and pierced shoulder as she looked up at Sinbad and gasped in horror. His eyes were shut tight and his face twisted in pain. And his hand…

His right hand was gripping the dagger which was now buried to the hilt halfway down Sinbad's right outer thigh. As blood began to stain Sinbad's dark teal pants black, a light shined brightly around the protruding blade. Sinbad slowly pulled the dagger out of his leg as the light faded from the hole.

Through the pain Chiaki felt the candy in his leg vaporize when the dagger pierced it. He felt one of the demon's powers abruptly reduce and smiled grimly to himself. Opening his eyes, mildly surprised that he could, Chiaki saw a dark shadow emerge from his body.

Maron watched in horrified fascination as the shadow hovered briefly over Sinbad's hunched form before backing away and consolidating into a demon. The demon was clearly injured and was struggling to recover.

"_You stupid boy! How dare you defy us!"_ a deep voice demanded angrily from thin air. Maron looked up to see Sinbad's tortured blue eyes as he raised his head. His face shined from the sheen of sweat that covered it, mingling with his tears. His breathing was harsh and uneven as he raised the dagger again. His left hand shot up to grab his right and stopped it in midair. Sinbad bared his teeth in a snarl, and continued to fight his own body to bring the blade up.

Chiaki felt his face respond to his emotions and realized that the remaining demons had given up control of his facial muscles to concentrate on controlling his body. _Well tough luck. I promised to protect Maron, and I will do that, no matter what the cost to me is!_ Chiaki thought fiercely as he finally brought the dagger up into position and aimed it at his next target.

Letting out a fierce yell that quickly turned to a scream of pain, Sinbad plunged the dagger into his stomach, just to the left of his navel. He heard Jeanne scream his name as he felt the candy vaporize inside of him and the second demon emerge from him.

He fell to one knee and sobbed harshly as he yanked the dagger from his stomach, feeling the blood course from the wound. But he didn't feel acid burning him, so he knew that he hadn't pierced his intestines by some miracle. _Not that it matters._ Chiaki thought regretfully.

"**Sinbad!"** Maron screamed in grief and horror, hating seeing the man she loved inflicting pain on his body. Another shadow emerged from Sinbad's injured body and floated over to combine with the other. Jeanne gasped as she thought, _There were TWO demons possessing him?!_ She struggled to her feet, pressing her wound with the heel of her right hand. 

Slowly she approached Sinbad, whose hands were covered in his own blood, his face pale and drawn.

"Jeanne…" Maron froze when she heard Chiaki's deep, pain filled voice. He looked up at her, his blue eyes tortured as he struggled gather the energy he needed to raise his hand once more. "C-Checkmate them. Quickly!" he gasped when she hesitated.

Chiaki sighed internally in relief as his Maron nodded and turned to find her ribbon wand. _Good now I don't have to worry about her getting hurt by the other demons. Or her thinking that it's the demon making me stab myself._ He thought as he resumed the battle for his body. Perversely it was harder for Chiaki to fight the remaining demon than it had been to fight all three.

_It's probably because he's the strongest, and I've used up almost all my energy in getting rid of the first two. That and the blood loss and pain aren't helping matters._ The young man thought as managed to get the danger into position one last time.

Maron tried to ignore the pain in her shoulder and the blood running down her left arm as she reached where her ribbon wand had landed. She fumbled for a moment as the wand almost slipped from her blood soaked hand.

_Thank God I'm right handed. I don't think I'd be able to checkmate if I were left handed right now._ Jeanne thought to herself as she twirled and spoke the words. The ribbon wrapped around the combined demon tightly.

"Checkmate!" Jeanne said, sealing the two demons. The two chess pieces fell to the floor as the ribbon retreated back into the wand. Maron sighed and turned to see how Sinbad was faring. And gasped as a beam of purple demon energy shot suddenly from the shadows to hit Sinbad squarely in the back.

Myst frowned in annoyance from the shadows, looking at Sinbad's trembling body. It was clear to her that her demon was slowly losing to the human boy. So she raised her finger and send a beam of energy at his back with the mental admonition of _don't waste it_.

Chiaki had just started to bring the blade point closer to his chest when he felt a beam of fire hit the middle of his back. He screamed in agony as he felt what he realized was demon energy course throughout his body, throwing him to the floor and the dagger skittering across the floor.

The demon possessing him laughed triumphantly as his power was abruptly boosted. He didn't gloat for long, though. The demon pressed his advantage, trying to destroy Chiaki's soul.

Jeanne sobbed with worry but had more sense than to rush over to Sinbad. _There must have been three, not two, demons originally possessing him. So now there is only one, but with his wounds, Chiaki… That beam must have boosted the demon's power, and at the same time, hurt Chiaki._ Maron thought, seeing how it looked like the demon was gaining the upper hand, though it no longer had the support of the other two. If the demon had managed to gain control and she willingly approached him, Chiaki would never forgive her for putting herself in danger. So she stood still with the greatest of efforts as the man she loved lay flat on the ground, fighting for control of his own body.

Movement from the open window caught her eye and she looked up. Access flew down yelling both Sinbad's and her name. Before Jeanne could warn him, the angel found the barrier by flying into it.

The black angel slammed his fist on the barrier in frustration before turning his eyes to Sinbad. Jeanne copied him and turned her eyes back to Sinbad, who had risen to his hands and knees, his eyes squeezed shut.

_Chiaki…_ she thought helplessly.

The demon, thinking that the human was done for, had forced Sinbad's bleeding body to its hands and knees. But he didn't reckon on Chiaki's sheer willpower, strength, and love for Maron. Gathering every shred of his remaining strength, Chiaki put it all into one final front.

Sinbad's cobalt eyes snapped opened and he saw the dagger lying on the floor a few feet away from him. Before the demon possessing him realized that Chiaki was still fighting back, the young man had scrambled painfully but quickly to his feet and lunged for the dagger.

Hitting the ground again, Sinbad grabbed the dagger with his right hand and used his momentum to roll back to his feet. He straightened as much as he could, so he could hit his target better and grabbed onto the dagger with his left hand as well, holding the dagger in front of him. Unknowingly his roll had turned him so that he was directly facing Maron.

Looking into her violet eyes briefly for the strength he needed, Chiaki felt the demon freeze his body. _Oh no you don't, you bastard!_ Chiaki thought viciously and broke the demon's hold over him. He brought the dagger up and aimed, determination and grief blazing in his eyes.

"**I WILL protect Maron!"** he yelled and, in one swift motion, plunged the dagger into his chest, just below his heart. Chiaki felt his eyes widen to their limit as the waves of pain coursed through his body, and felt the air in his lungs rush out of his mouth along with blood.

In too much pain to make a sound, Chiaki saw light shine once more and felt the final demon be expelled from his dying body. Chiaki felt his body fall backwards and crash into the floor, his hands losing their grip on the dagger as he fell. Dimly he heard Maron screaming his name.

"Kuso!" Access exclaimed as Sinbad yelled Maron's name. Quickly he used his powers to blur the memories of the seven people of the second floor. He had to repeat the process a moment later as well.

Maron felt her world and her heart shatter when Chiaki stabbed himself after he had yelled that he would protect her. She saw the blood fly from his mouth to stain his pale lips and hit the floor. She saw his beautiful blue eyes widen then dull as his hands fell from the dagger's hilt and his body slowly fell backwards.

"_**Chiakiiiiiiiii!!"**_ she screamed forgetting that Miyako and the others were still there and that they could hear her. She rushed over to where his body was sprawled, ignoring her own wounds and the weakened demon recovering in the shadows.

She sank to her knees and gently grabbed either side of his face to look into his pain filled eyes, heedless of the blood she was smearing on his face and of the tears that fell from her eyes to splash onto his too pale cheeks.

"Chiaki…" she whispered willing him to respond, to keep breathing.

"M-Maron…checkmate it." Chiaki forced out hoarsely when he saw Jeanne's violet eyes above him and felt her tears hit his face. Through his blurred vision, he saw her hesitate. "Now!" he whispered with as much force as he could muster.

She nodded and her face left his line of sight. While she sealed the demon, Chiaki felt and tasted blood pool in his mouth and lungs, making it even more difficult to breathe. (A blade through the ribs and piercing a lung tends to have that effect on people.) He turned his head slowly to the side and coughed weakly, despite the pain it caused him, to expel the blood from his mouth, knowing it would choke him otherwise.

"Shimatta! Those three were my strongest too. Grrr!" Sinbad heard Myst saw angrily. Forcing his eyes open again, he saw Myst floating above him looking at Jeanne, who held three chess pieces in her blood stained hand.

She looked about ready to attack when a small dragon like demon appeared over her shoulder to whisper something to her. Myst's eyes widened then she sniffed in annoyance and disappeared. Right after she left the barrier shattered and Chiaki saw his partner make a beeline for him.

"Chiaki!" Jeanne half sobbed, half whispered as she once again rushed to Sinbad's side. Access hovered worriedly over him, but had the sense to get out of Maron's way. Sinking to her knees and sitting on her heels, Jeanne picked up his hand and cupped his face with her other. "Why? Why did you do this to yourself Chiaki?" she asked brokenly around her sobs.

"I promised you, promised _myself_, that I would protect you, Maron. Even if it meant giving up my own life." He whispered, his face pale and screwed up in pain.

"But why—"

"It was the only way to get the demons out of me. I knew that after Zen-kun you wouldn't checkmate the demons if they were in my body, even if they used me to kill you. You almost died Maron." He interrupted her softly, his eyes filled with regret and guilt. Jeanne shook her head as tears poured down her face.

"But now YOU'RE dying C-Sinbad!" she amended quickly as she heard Miyako and the others approach.

"I called the ambulance, Jeanne. They'll be here in three minutes." Miyako said gently, having caught the Kaitou's last sentence. Miyako had tears running down her cheeks and there was not a dry eye among the other six people standing around the two Kaitous. Detective Toudaiji knelt slowly on Sinbad's left side and inspected the Kaitou's injuries. He shook his head sadly and spoke.

"He'll be dead by then, Miyako. Even though he didn't get his heart, he's losing blood too fast and his lungs are probably filling with it too." He said, looking at Sinbad, who nodded in confirmation, then coughed weakly to expel the blood from his mouth, wincing in pain. Jeanne sobbed, pressing a kiss on the back of his right hand, which she held, and wiping his tears away tenderly with the pad of her thumb.

"Jeanne, pull the dagger out. I'll be able to breathe easier." Sinbad whispered. Maron inhaled sharply and looked at the blade sticking out of Chiaki's chest, but shook her head, unable to do it. Detective Toudaiji heard the request as well and saw Jeanne shake her head. So he reached forward, grabbed the dagger and pulled it out swiftly, making Sinbad groan in pain.

The bloodstain spread more rapidly and everyone could hear the eerie sound of air whistling out of the hole in Sinbad's chest. Jeanne quickly placed her hand over the wound, stopping the horrible sound.

Jeanne looked at Sinbad's pale, sweaty face and bit her lip, thinking. Then ignoring the pain and dizziness caused by her shoulder wound and ignoring the blood running down her left arm, she raised her head to look at Access.

"Access, can you heal him?" she asked, seeing the others stare at her for apparently talking to thin air. The angel bit his thumb in thought, his yellow eyes suspiciously wet.

"No, I don't have enough strength. Myst drained me to unconsciousness earlier."

"Can you use my energy to heal him?" Jeanne asked desperately, grasping at straws.

"I could, but you're hurt and tired. It will probably make you lose consciousness, maybe even kill you, Jeanne."

"I don't care. He's DYING Access. What do I have to do?" the angel looked at Jeanne's stubborn face, saw the love and grief lurking in her eyes and sighed, nodding his small head.

"Mouth to mouth contact. You do that, making sure that both yours and his lips are parted and I'll heal him." The black angel ordered. Jeanne nodded, as everyone but Sinbad looked confused at her seemingly one sided conversation.

_Maron…_ Chiaki thought weakly as he heard her and Access' conversation. He was in awe that she'd be willing to do this, just to save him. So when she started lowering her face to his, Chiaki helpfully parted his lips, looking up into her lovely violet eyes.

Jeanne lowered her face to Sinbad's, noting that he had parted his lips slightly for her. She gave him a small smile for that. Her lips then gently made contact with his, her lips parting slightly and ignoring the blood on his.

When Maron's lips touched his, despite the fact that he was dying and in terrible pain, Chiaki could help but sigh softly in pleasure at the feel of her soft lips on his even as he felt her tears fall onto his face. His eyes slid shut and he felt her power flow into him through their locked lips. He felt Access direct the energy to heal the hole in his chest.

The hole sealed and the blood flooding his lungs was transferred back into his bloodstream. Then as he felt the energy start to move to his stomach and leg, Chiaki jerked his head to the side, forcibly breaking the kiss, much as he hated to.

"Sinbad, I wasn't done!" He heard Jeanne say indignantly. He opened his eyes to look up at her.

"Anymore and you'll be putting your own life in danger. I'll live." He said softly as Jeanne swayed slightly from dizziness. She knew better than to argue with him, so she just pulled back to sit back on her heels, her right hand leaving Sinbad's face to press against the wound in her shoulder. Sinbad used his hands to apply pressure to both his leg and stomach. Both then heard the distinctive wails of ambulances.

"By the way, the both of you are under arrest. We'll do the interrogation and other business after the hospital patches the both of you up." Detective Toudaiji announced almost regretfully. Miyako was still in shock from the sight of both teens glowing and the absence of Sinbad's chest injury.

"I'm NOT leaving Sinbad's side!" Jeanne stated flatly, looking up at the detective as two teams of medics came charging into the library with two wheeled stretchers. But her statement lost its command as she swayed from blood loss and almost fell on top of Sinbad.

"Jeanne!" the prone Kaitou exclaimed weakly.

"I'm sorry, but you can't do that, Jeanne-san. We'll try to have you two put in the same recovery room though." Toudaiji said gently as the medics loaded the two teens onto the stretchers. Miyako looked worried at the sight of the two pale and bleeding Kaitous as the medics rushed them from the room.

Access flew out with Sinbad, anxiously watching his partner's pale and grimacing face. He took a quick glance at Jeanne as the two teams came out the entrance of Momokuri Academy and split off to one of the two ambulances. She was pale and her face was screwed up against the pain, but she was still conscious.

Sinbad on the other hand…he was out cold as the medics loaded his stretcher into the vehicle and secured it. In the background he saw Miyako and the others head to the police cars scattered in front of the school, clearly intending to follow the ambulances. The angel zipped in to float above Sinbad's head as the medics shut the doors and the vehicle began to move.

In the other ambulance, Jeanne found that whenever she opened her eyes, her world began to spin and dance around her. So she kept her eyes closed. She was close to falling asleep, or was it passing out, when she heard an unknown male voice calling the name 'Jeanne-san'.

_Huh? Who's Jeanne? Wait a minute, I'm Jeanne. Where…oh yeah the ambulance._ Maron's thoughts were confused and scattered but she finally got them in order and opened her eyes.

"Yes? What is it?" her voice sounded odd to her, hoarse and tired. She struggled to concentrate on the face hovering above her.

"Jeanne-san, what is your blood-type? You need a transfusion and quickly." The middle aged man asked with concern. Maron had to think a minute before she remembered it.

"O. my blood-type is O." she finally whispered. The last thing she saw before her world went black was the man nodding his head. _I hope Chiaki is okay…_

In Sinbad's ambulance, the medics were having a harder time getting the needed information from their patient.

"Can't we get a sample of his blood to find out?" one medic asked as another attempted to wake up Sinbad.

"No we don't have the needed equipment." That was the one calling Sinbad's name.

"Why won't he wake up?" the second asked, confused at the pale haired teen's total lack of response.

"Obviously 'Sinbad' is just an alias. And in the condition he's in, he probably doesn't realize that he's Sinbad." The third medic put in as he and the second finished bandaging up the teen's leg.

Access thought for a moment. _Well they can't see or hear me, and if Sinbad talks to me, they'll just figure that he's hallucinating._ The black angel reasoned to himself. He then dodged around one medic's arm to float beside Sinbad's face. Seeing that they had put a breathing mask on his face, Access altered his plan quickly.

"Chiaki, wake up!" The angel yelled in his partner's ear. Then for good measure, he kicked Sinbad's jaw. This was his method of waking up Chiaki if the teen's alarm didn't go off or was ignored. Normally, Access kicked Chiaki's nose, but that was covered right now.

Sinbad groaned, but didn't open his eyes. So Access repeated the process, and was rewarded with the sight of Sinbad's blue eyes slowly cracking open.

"What the hell are you yelling for, Access?" the Kaitou asked in a hoarse whisper. Even Access had trouble understanding what Sinbad said, his words were so slurred.

"Chiaki the medic guys have been trying to wake you up for a while. They said they need to know your 'blood-type' whatever that means." The angel said, floating above Sinbad's pain filled eyes. Sinbad nodded slightly in comprehension and Access moved out of the way.

"My blood-type is A." he said clearly, loud enough for the medics to hear and understand. Looking up at the nearest blurry face, Chiaki saw that the man was both relieved with Sinbad's response and terribly confused.

_Well duh. To their eyes I suddenly woke up, said something they couldn't understand then told them what they need to know._ Chiaki thought fuzzily as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

The whole procession arrived at Nagoya Hospital a few minutes later. As the two Kaitous were rushed into the ER, detective Toudaiji climbed out of his police car, followed by Miyako. But when the others made to get out, the detective held up a hand.

"Hold it. You guys need to go home. You too, Minazuki-kun. I'd be sending Miyako home as well, but I know she wouldn't obey me." he added when Yamato opened his mouth to protest. He and the others sighed and nodded.

The cars then pulled out of the parking lot, leaving father and daughter at the entrance of the hospital. They went inside and were directed to a waiting room.

"Do you think they'll try to escape?" Miyako asked her father as they both took a seat. Himuro Toudaiji sighed tiredly and looked down at his daughter.

"Sinbad couldn't even if he tried. He's lucky he's alive right now. And Jeanne made it abundantly clear that she plans to stay by Sinbad's side. So no, I don't think they'll try to escape."

"What happened back there? One second Sinbad was about to die and then Jeanne kissed him, both glowed briefly and then Sinbad's chest wound was gone and Jeanne was even more tired. Did she heal him?" Miyako asked, remembering vividly when the two Kaitous kissed.

"She must have. He shouldn't be alive right now, with the injuries he received." Her father replied, staring off into the distance, pondering the miracle that he witnessed.

In ER Dr. Kaiki Nagoya shook his head in wonder. He had just finished patching up the infamous Kaitou Sinbad, and was truly impressed by what the young man had managed to live through.

"There must be an angel watching over you, Sinbad." He said to the unconscious teen on the operating table in front of him. Access snickered from where he floated above Sinbad, amused at the doctor's unknowingly correct assessment of the situation. He also thought it was ironic that Dr. Nagoya was unknowingly patching up his son.

"Okay, I'm done. The rest is up to him." Nagoya said to the nurse assisting him. He looked ruefully at the young man's clothes. The shirt and pants were done for. Even if he managed to get the blood out of them, the shirt had a mysterious hole that was obviously from the dagger, which the medics had brought with them and was now lying on a nearby table, and had been ripped in a couple other places. _Why the hell would his shirt be pierced like that but his skin wasn't?_ The doctor thought to himself, puzzled.

The pants were in worse condition. The left pant leg had been cut off just above the wound and was now bunched around the Kaitou's ankle. His shoes might be salvageable along 

with the gloves if he managed to get the blood from them. The over coat was heavily stained as well. The headband had been untouched, oddly enough, along with the necklace.

"Have him changed into a pair of hospital pajamas please. Leave the headband and necklace alone. And check with me before you hook up another transfusion bag." He instructed the nurse then left on check on his favorite thief, Kaitou Jeanne. Exiting the room the doctor walked down the crowded hallway and entered another operating room.

"I take it that Sinbad is stabilized and on the mend then?" Dr. Kawamura asked from the center of the room. The older doctor was standing at the head of the table that Jeanne was laying on. Nagoya nodded and closed the door behind him.

"He is, the nurses are changing his clothes and transferring him to a recovery room as we speak. How's Jeanne-san doing?" he replied, coming up to look down on the lovely Kaitou's pale face.

"She's doing fine. We were able to stop the bleeding and sew up her shoulder fairly quickly, and she's taking the transfusion just fine. The wound was very clean and easy to patch up. Her outfit is ruined though." The older man said, gesturing to Jeanne's left shoulder. They had cut most of the sleeve and shoulder off of both under and over shirt. The rest of her top was stained with blood as well as her gloves and other parts of her outfit, including her boots.

"Oh well, she'll match Sinbad then, once we change her into some hospital pajamas. I don't want to take off her jewelry or take down her hair though. They're fine where they are. And have them keep her rosary with her if they can get it off of the outfit. It's probably very important to her."

"Hey Kaiki, what happened to them?"

"I'm not really sure. I just know that both Sinbad's and Jeanne's wounds were inflicted by the same dagger."

"Do they have different blood-types?" at Nagoya's nod, the older doctor continued. "Is there any chance of either of them getting blood poisoning from each other?"

"No, if the other's blood got into one of the Kaitou's bloodstream, it was quickly flushed out as the wounds bled. And I did have the nurses run test on their blood, they have no diseases or anything that spreads through blood, so don't worry." Dr. Kawamura sighed in relief upon hearing Nagoya's last sentence.

"That's a relief. Well I'm done with Jeanne-san here, she can be transferred to a recovery room." Kawamura said, gesturing for a nurse to come over and start moving her. She was still receiving a transfusion but other than that she was stable. The doctor relayed to the nurse for her to change Jeanne's clothes but to leave her jewelry and hair alone and to keep the rosary with Jeanne.

"Oh, good. I don't think I'll be able to get those bracelets of hers off. How she'd get them on in the first place?" the nurse wondered as she transferred Jeanne to a wheeled hospital bed.

"Magic I suppose." Dr. Nagoya said, shrugging. "That would explain how they make the painting and other things they steal disappear." The others in the room that were listening shrugged and nodded.

"I'm going to inform Detective…Toudaiji I believe it was, that the two Kaitous are stable and being transferred to recovery rooms." Nagoya said, heading out of the room. "And hopefully find out what the hell happened to Jeanne and Sinbad." He continued in an undertone to himself as he walked down the hallway.

Miyako sat in the waiting room, pondering about the Kaitous and what she knew of them. Mostly about Jeanne. Sinbad she knew as a rival of Jeanne, though he seemed more focused on protecting her more than beating her now.

But Jeanne… thoughts of what her father had been that day a few weeks ago flashed through her head along with many of the others who Jeanne had robbed. Then memories of when she asked for Jeanne to help her brother, and the mysterious thief had and her brother had returned to normal.

_And when she stole the sculpture today, Yamada-san looked like he was in pain and dropped to the floor. But when he got up he was confused but back to normal._ Miyako thought. It followed the trend of Jeanne's other victims that she knew of. _That's why I wanted to arrest her, to ask her what she's really doing. I'm sure she has an ulterior motive in this whole thing._

"But I never thought, never wanted to arrest them this way. With both of them almost dead." Miyako said in a low voice, talking to herself. Her father blinked then realized what his daughter was talking about.

"Don't worry Miyako. I'm sure that both Kaitou Jeanne and Kaitou Sinbad are going to be just fine." He said, trying to cheer his daughter up. Miyako looked up and smiled, then caught sight of Dr. Nagoya approaching. She shot from her seat like it was on fire.

"Doctor! Are they alright?" she asked quickly as Dr. Nagoya entered the waiting room.

"They will be. Both are them are stabilized and patched up. They are being transferred to recovery rooms as we speak." The doctor said soothingly. Both Detective and daughter sighed in relief.

"Are they in the same recovery room?" Miyako asked, remembering Jeanne intense declaration that she wasn't going to leave Sinbad's side, and her father's response.

"No, why?"

"Because Jeanne-san was most adamant in her wish to stay by Sinbad's side. I told her that she couldn't do that but I would try to have the two of them placed in the same recovery room. That and it would make my life easier for me if both Kaitous were in the same room." Toudaiji said, explaining his daughter's question.

"Ah, I see. If that's the case then I can certainly put the two Kaitous in the same recovery room. Just a moment." He said and tracked down a nurse to relay his instructions to have Kaitou Jeanne moved into the same recovery room as Kaitou Sinbad. Coming back the doctor spoke.

"She's being moved. I don't want to move Sinbad-san, he's in much worse condition than Jeanne-san. Now if you two would follow me, I believe that both are stable enough to be visited…or arrested as the case may be."

Miyako and her father nodded, getting to their feet and following Dr. Nagoya down the hall. Soon they arrived at the correct room, just behind Jeanne, it seemed, for the nurse was still making sure the bed and everything else was properly situated.

Detective Toudaiji and Miyako both heaved sighs of relief as they saw how much better both Kaitous looked. Both were no longer as pale and neither looked to be in very much pain. Then Toudaiji sighed for a different reason and fished out two pairs of handcuffs from his overcoat. The chains on them were longer than most, more like foot cuffs. That was because Toudaiji didn't want the Kaitous to further injure themselves by wrenching their arm or shoulder accidently.

He gave one pair to Miyako and motioned for her to handcuff Jeanne to her bed. She nodded and did so as her father took care of Sinbad. He clipped the metal ring around the teen's 

right wrist and then to the bed rails. After making sure both were secure he joined his daughter at Jeanne's bedside.

Access, who was floating between the two Kaitous' beds, was miffed when Toudaiji and Miyako handcuffed his partner and Jeanne, but knew better than to try to stop them. He wouldn't be able to stop them, and it would alert them of his presence.

Her bracelets were still on, Toudaiji noted with amusement. He nodded his approval of Miyako's handcuffing of Jeanne's right hand to the bed rail as a job well done. Then both turned as Dr. Nagoya discreetly cleared his throat.

"If you two don't mind, would you care to explain to me how our two Kaitous here managed to get into this condition?" he asked, indicating three seats in the room.

"Of course doctor. And here are the keys to the handcuffs. For bathroom runs if nothing else." Toudaiji said handing the small keys over to Nagoya, how nodded in thanks. Once the three were seated comfortably, Toudaiji started to summarize the events that led up to the incident.

"…and then Jeanne leaped to the open window to escape and was repelled by a barrier of some sorts. It was transparent enough for us to see through it, for the barrier enclosed most of the first floor and some of the second."

"I touched it and it was like the very air had turned hard. And it stung a bit when I touched it." Miyako added. Her father nodded then went on to explain Sinbad's actions and all that happened after that. But when Toudaiji described how Sinbad had stabbed his own leg, Nagoya gave a start.

"What? Why ever did he do that? Was he being possessed?" the doctor asked half joking on the last sentence. Access, who was sitting on Sinbad's bed, snickered at the doctor's unknowing accuracy.

Toudaiji shrugged and motioned for Miyako to finish the tale, as he was getting tired of talking. She nodded and started talking. Nagoya looked like he was going to interrupt when Miyako described how Sinbad had stabbed himself just below the heart. She waved that she was going to explain later and he held his tongue.

"I remember he yelled something right before he stabbed himself though. He said: 'I will protect…' he said a name and I know it wasn't 'Jeanne'. But for the life of me I can't remember it now. Can you Dad?" Miyako asked frustrated. Her father shook his head. "That's infuriating; I'm guessing it was Jeanne's civilian name. They must know each other's real identities, for then Jeanne yelled out what must have been Sinbad's real name, which I can't remember either."

Miyako shook her head and continued. Nagoya looked confused and enlightened when she described how Jeanne must have healed Sinbad. She then quickly wrapped up the last bit and looked at Dr. Nagoya's face for his reaction.

"Well that is an impressive tale. And I would have trouble believing you had I not seen Sinbad's shirt with my own eyes. That and his condition was much more severe and his body in too much shock than it should have been for just receiving two injuries." The doctor said at last. The three then started theorizing on why everything had happened and how.

Nagoya looked up later to find that almost two hours had gone by. The other two were surprised as well, but all three were distracted a moment later when they heard Jeanne moan and stir.

Maron came to slowly, moaning in disorientation and pain. Her head felt heavy and her shoulder was complaining at her, but other than that she felt mostly fine. Suddenly her memory 

came flooding back and she remembered everything: Yamada-san, Sinbad being possessed and trying to kill her, Chiaki expelling the demons, Chiaki laying almost dead beside her, her healing him partway, the ambulance…

Through all of it, only Chiaki stayed on her mind. _Where is he? Is he okay? Is he alive? Where am I?_ Questions raced through her brain as she gasped and shot into a sitting position, ignoring the shooting pain in her shoulder.

"Chiaki!" she exclaimed almost panicking. Looking around, she saw she was in a hospital room, Chiaki, still as Sinbad and most definitely alive and mostly well, Access floating above and in front of her with an irked and exasperated expression on his face and…

_Oh crap!_ Sitting in the corner were Miyako, her father and Chiaki's father. However their expressions were not shocked like she expected them to be. Rather they looked confused.

"Jeez, Maron! I wish you would stop doing that. It takes energy to blur their hearing and memories ya know!" Access' face was scrunched up in annoyance and his tone mirrored his face. But Jeanne could see in his eyes that he was grateful that she was okay. She suddenly remembered that she had shouted Chiaki's name when he had stabbed himself in the chest earlier. She opened her mouth to ask the angel about it, but he was way ahead of her.

"And yes, I blurred their memoires and hearing when you shouted Sinbad's name and when he shouted yours. How are you feeling by the way?" the angel asked, seeing that Jeanne was still slightly pale and her face had the slightly pinched look of someone in pain.

Rather than answer him verbally, Jeanne nodded a tiny bit, though her shoulder hurt, it wasn't as bad as before. _They must have put me on painkillers. But if they did, the drug has worn off._ Maron thought. She then made to raise her right hand to peel back the hospital PJs she noticed she was wearing so she could see the damage.

But as she did she heard and felt a metal chain. Looking down she saw that her hand was handcuffed to the bed rail by an unusually long chained pair of handcuffs. She hadn't felt the metal ring around her wrist due to her bracelets. She then saw out of the corner of her eye her rosary, which was on her bedside table.

She quickly leaned over to grab the precious object. She wasn't sure how she had managed to stay as Jeanne when they had removed the rosary but she figured Access done something. He confirmed it a moment later.

"I boosted the rosary's power so that it only had to be near you to keep you transformed. You're lucky they decided to leave your hair and jewelry alone." He informed her as Jeanne nodded minutely again. Then she heard a throat being cleared to her right, where Miyako and the others were.

She looked up to see all three standing and slowly approaching. They stopped a few feet from her bed. She looked up at them, glad that the magic that transformed her into Jeanne was strong enough to disguise her voice as well as her features; otherwise she knew that Miyako would recognize her as soon as she spoke.

"Well Kaitou Jeanne, we've finally ended the chase tonight. Though I would have preferred it a different way." Miyako said, ending her second sentence softly.

"So it seems, Miyako." Maron replied.

"How do you know my name?!" Miyako looked so shocked that Jeanne almost laughed. Instead she smiled and explained.

"I have ears. That and with all your 'Miyako Specials' I assumed your name was Miyako. I was right."

"Oh." Miyako looked slightly embarrassed. Jeanne switched her gaze to Toudaiji.

"What happens now? I've never been arrested before, so I wouldn't know." She kept her face calm and voice neutral through sheer willpower. Maron was scared stiff of actually being arrested and having her identity found out.

"Well, once you're recovered enough, you'll be escorted down to the station, be questioned and probably put into jail. And you'll be required to return all the items you've stolen of course." The detective listed off as Maron bit her lip. She was about to tell them that she couldn't return the items when she heard a noise to her left.

She whipped her head around to look at the prone and unconscious Sinbad. His face was screwed up, his limbs twitching and he had broken out in a cold sweat. He looked to be in great pain and Maron could see his lips moving and just hear him mumbling.

"Access, what wrong with him?" Maron asked the angel floating between her and Chiaki.

"He's having a nightmare. He has them occasionally, and I've yet to be able to wake him up from one. He may start thrashing in a minute or so, he sometimes does, and violently at that, if the nightmare is really bad. He usually wakes himself up in about three to five minutes. But if he starts to thrash…" Access trailed off, looking at Jeanne.

"He'll reopen his wounds, and make them worse." Maron finished for the angel softly. As she watched, Chiaki became more and more restless, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he panted shallowly, and his mumbling grew louder, clearer and more emotional.

"Shimatta, I'd better get prepared to blur the humans' hearing again, he may say something that will compromise you or him." The angel said, his forehead drop sparkling slightly.

Maron couldn't tear her eyes from Chiaki's pale, pained face. His head was tossing back and forth on his pillow and she could see his body alternately tensing and trembling. She felt her heart restrict painfully in her chest, and she unconsciously tried to go to him, forgetting that she was handcuffed to the bed, tears sparkling in her violet eyes.

Miyako bit her lip as she watched Jeanne stare, troubled, at Sinbad, who looked to be caught in some sort of nightmare. She had spoken twice, each time seemingly to someone only she could hear and see, but her tone had been thick with worry and heartache. She still had a good view of the blond Kaitou's face, so she could see the lone tear slid down Jeanne's face.

Making up her mind, the teen pulled out the key to Jeanne's handcuffs and moved forward. Jeanne didn't even seem to notice her as she strained against the metal rings that stopped her from going to the man Miyako was pretty sure Jeanne loved.

So swiftly that her father was shocked, Miyako unlocked the bed rail cuff, slipped it onto her left wrist and locked it again. The clicking noise the lock made got Jeanne's attention. She turned to stare first at her hand then at Miyako's face.

Miyako could see her father's approval of her actions, so Miyako smiled softly at the Kaitou on the bed and tugged her hand slightly, indicating for Jeanne to get off the bed. Jeanne's face was puzzled at first, but when she realized what Miyako was doing, her eyes filled with gratitude.

"Doomo arigatou, Miyako-san." Jeanne said softly as she slid off the bed and stood beside the purple haired teen.

"Come." Was all Miyako said as she lead the Kaitou around the bed and over to Sinbad's bed. Once there, Miyako guided Jeanne over to the left side of the bed and handcuffed Jeanne to the bed rail. She then backed up a few feet, hearing her father and Dr. Nagoya join her in watching the couple.

Maron noted that the handcuff that chained Sinbad to his bed was the same as hers. She put her rosary down on his bedside table and climbed carefully onto his bed. His covers were pulled up to his armpits, and his arms were on top them. She saw that his hands were clenched into fists, clutching the material of the blanket.

Maron sat on her heels carefully beside Chiaki's torso, and turned so that her head was almost above his. He had started to thrash violently, moaning and muttering frantically. His breathing became irregular and shallow. Sinbad's limbs were jerking around and his head and torso both tossed and turned.

"Sinbad. Sinbad, wake up!" Jeanne called, placing her hand on his cold clammy forehead lightly. Chiaki flinched from the contact at first, probably thinking it was something from his nightmare.

Maron tried calling Sinbad's and shaking him lightly to wake him up several more times, but Sinbad didn't respond. His thrashing and muttering were getting worse. He kept repeating 'no' in a pleading and grief stricken tone, along with Maron's name and various other phrases and moaning noises in a slowly but steadily increasing volume. Jeanne felt tears making tracks down her face.

"Access, he doesn't realize he's Sinbad right now. I have to use his real name." she said looking up at the angel floating above Chiaki's head board. She saw Miyako and the other two cock their ears when she said 'real name'. Access sighed and nodded.

"Fine, I can blur their hearing of your name and his for the both of you. But not for more than a few minutes. I'll let you know if I get tired. Just wake him up before he does himself harm." The angel said, looking at his partner, who had now kicked the covers off of him almost completely.

"He already has." Maron replied softly, seeing a faint stain on his pajama shirt from the vicinity of his stomach wound. She then turned her attention back to his face as he kept muttering and moaning.

"Chiaki, wake up! Chiaki its Maron, don't you know me? Wake up please, Chiaki!" Maron called shaking his shoulders and patting his cheeks. He didn't respond. She felt a few tears slid off her face and saw them land on his face. He twitched as he felt them. Encouraged, Maron grabbed one of his hands in her and laid the other one on his cheek.

"CHIAKI!" Maron fairly screamed, hoping that the sudden noise, her worried voice and his name would do the trick.

"MARON NOOO!" Chiaki yelled, his eyes popping open, wide and unseeing, as he shot into a sitting position. Maron had leaned back quickly so he didn't hit her. A microsecond later Chiaki let out a strangled moan and fell back onto the pillows, clearly in pain, his free hand clutching his stomach.

As his head hit the pillow, the teen blinked, sense and awareness now shining in his cobalt eyes. He was breathing heavily, as if he had just run a marathon and there were tears shining in his eyes. Chiaki's turned to look into Jeanne's eyes

"Maron!" Sinbad gasped breathlessly as he shook from the after effects and lingering vision of the nightmare. She was crying again. God he hated it when she cried, if it were up to him, he'd make sure she never had to cry again.

_Oh, wait, she's probably crying because of me. Great going Chiaki you baka!_ He berated himself as he calmed down. He twisted his hand that she held out of hers to reach up and wipe away her tears.

Seeing her tear stained face Chiaki suddenly remembered what he had done to her earlier, never mind the fact that he had been possessed, and remembered what he had just been dreaming about. Feeling tears prick in his own eyes, Chiaki let his hand drop and turned his face away from hers, closing guilt filled eyes in shame and grief.

Maron saw Chiaki's eyes fill with guilt and self loathing as he turned away from her and shut his eyes. She cursed mentally. She saw that Access was getting tired so she decided to use Sinbad.

"Sinbad, don't. Don't shut me out; don't blame yourself for what happened." She said softly, using her hand to tilt his head up to face her. He slowly slid his eyelids back to reveal twin windows to a maelstrom of guilt, self loathing, shame, grief and love.

"I hurt you M—" Jeanne placed her finger over his lips gesturing at the other three in the room. Chiaki's eyes widened and he also noticed the handcuffs on him and Jeanne.

"Don't worry, I blurred your voices whenever you said your name or the other's. But I'm tired now, so stick with the Kaitou names okay?" he heard his partner say from above him. Chiaki nodded in understanding then continued as Jeanne took her finger off his lips.

"I hurt you Jeanne. I almost KILLED you!" he said miserably, remembering vividly just how close had been to plunging his dagger into her heart.

"That wasn't you Sinbad. Don't even try to blame yourself for what the demons made your body do!" Jeanne said forcefully.

"You don't understand, Jeanne. I swore that I would PROTECT you. And then I allow those demons to use my body to assault you and almost kill you!" he protested, trying to ignore the pain blossoming in his stomach. He felt that his wound had reopened and felt the blood soaking the bandages.

"Allowed them to my ass!" Jeanne snapped, making Chiaki's eyes widen and he looked her straight in the eye. "Anyone one with an IQ above 30 could see that you were fighting those demons with every last bit of your strength and willpower." Sinbad opened his mouth again, but Jeanne placed her hand over it.

"And before you spout some nonsense about being too weak to resist the demons, remember that THREE demons teamed up together were needed to take over you. And they never managed to truly possess you. Your soul stayed pure and you remained aware of everything that happened around you. And need I remind you what Myst said?" Jeanne continued her tirade, though she removed her hand from his mouth and she didn't raise her voice, but Chiaki could see that Miyako, her father and his dad could hear her.

"She said that those three demon were her STRONGEST! She had to use her three strongest demons just to control you. And even then you managed to expel all three from your body!" Jeanne looked like she wanted to continue but her voice got choked up as she remembered how close she had come to losing Chiaki.

"I get your point Jeanne. I've noticed that tend to throw rational thought and reason out the window when it concerns your safety."

"I noticed too, you baka." Jeanne gave a weak chuckle as Sinbad contemplated kissing her. Her lips looked so inviting, but the memory of the demons using him to assault her haunted his mind.

She solved his dilemma for him. Her soft, warm lips gently made contact with his, her violet eyes darkening with emotion. He felt his own eyes widen before they started sliding shut, mimicking Jeanne's. He returned the kiss fourfold, parting his lips and running his tongue along her lips.

She parted hers as he felt her lie down beside him and wrap her arms gently around him as much as she could. He in turn enveloped her slender body in his arms, resolving to ignore everything else, including the growing pain of his wounds, for it seemed his leg injury had reopened as well, in favor of losing himself in the kiss.

He felt a few of her tears drop onto his cheeks but ignored them as Maron deepened the kiss even further. Unfortunately, realized that no matter how good and right the kiss felt, mundane tasks such as breathing are necessary. So both slowly broke contact, panting lightly to fill oxygen deprived lungs.

"Okay that kiss was without a doubt worth going through all that hell earlier." Chiaki said huskily, his eyes hooded just like Jeanne's. She hummed and nodded, scooting down to lie beside him and place her head on his chest, tucked snugly in the circle of his arms.

"Well! It certainly seems like the both of you are doing much better." Chiaki heard his father say. _Note to self: make sure to call him Dr. Nagoya or something along those lines, not Dad, Pop or any other names like that. And keep a neutral tone._ Chiaki thought to himself as he looked up at the others, feeling Jeanne do the same.

Both then belatedly blushed, realizing that they had kissed in front of three people. Miyako was blushing slightly, her father looked faintly stunned and Nagoya was just grinning. Both Kaitous grinned sheepishly as Access laughed and wolf whistled, causing Jeanne and Sinbad to blush again.

It was then that the last of the euphoria of the kiss faded from Chiaki's system and the pain of his reopened wounds hit him full force. He hissed through suddenly clenched teeth, struggling not to groan in pain.

Jeanne heard him hiss and felt the chest muscles under her head tense abruptly. Concerned, she raised her head to see Sinbad grimacing in pain. Nagoya noticed as well and was at Sinbad's side before Jeanne could blink.

She raised her head slightly to see that the doctor was unbuttoning Chiaki's nightshirt which, now that Jeanne's body wasn't covering it, she could see had a sizable blood stain on it. Chiaki grunted in pain as his father cut through the red, wet bandages, pulling them gently out from underneath the Kaitou.

"Sinbad…" Maron murmured and leaned up to kiss the bottom side of his jaw. Sinbad looked down and smiled gently at her, hugging her tighter, letting her know that he appreciated her support. He then moaned as Nagoya examined the wound.

"You managed to pop a few of the stitches, Sinbad-san. I'm going to have to sew you back up." The doctor sighed. Sinbad opened his clenched eyes and look up at his father.

"My leg's bleeding again as well. You'll want to check there too." He informed Nagoya, struggling to keep his tone neutral, so as not to alert his father. Jeanne closed her eyes and Miyako and her father turned around as Nagoya nodded and slid Chiaki's pajama pants down to reveal the blood soaked bandage on his leg.

Nagoya checked Sinbad's leg and found that two of the stitches had popped. So when Sinbad flatly refused to leave the bed or Jeanne, Nagoya had a nurse bring him all that he would need to sew Chiaki back up. He numbed both places then stepped back, waiting for the numbing to take effect.

While he waited Nagoya found that his eyes were drawn to a faint scar on Sinbad's chest. Leaning forward, the doctor ignored Sinbad's sudden tenseness and examined it carefully.

"Detective Toudaiji and Miyako-san told me the whole story, Sinbad-san. Is this really where you reportedly stabbed yourself?" he asked, prodding the small line of scar tissue. It looked like a scar from early childhood, not from hours earlier. Chiaki looked first at Maron, then his bare chest, and finally at his father's face.

"Yeah, that's where I stabbed myself." He stated quietly as he felt Jeanne tremble beside him, clearly remembering the event. Chiaki shuddered himself, briefly reliving the excruciating pain of the dagger piercing his chest. Jeanne saw the doctor open his mouth as he stood back upright.

"I healed him, doctor. Don't ask me how, for I won't answer." Jeanne said. She saw Miyako and her father nod as well as Nagoya.

"We guessed as much. Well you're a very lucky young man to have such a talented woman as your girlfriend Sinbad-san." He winked at the pale haired teen, who blushed. "Now, your wounds should be numb so let me go ahead and sew them up." He stated and picked up the sterilized needle from the tray beside him.

Chiaki leaned back and closed his eyes, not too keen on watching his father sew his flesh shut. But when he felt the sharp pain of the needle piercing his skin, Sinbad's eyes popped open and he hissed in pain.

"That f-ing hurts Da—!" Jeanne, quick as a flash, slapped her hand over Sinbad's mouth to cut off his words. Nagoya looked up, alarmed, and pulled the needle back out of Sinbad's skin.

The doctor could've sworn that Sinbad had started to say 'dad', but a moment later he realized it was just his imagination playing tricks on him. He had probably started to say 'damnit' when Jeanne had cut off his foul language.

"Sinbad you idiot! Watch your big mouth!" Jeanne hissed at Chiaki. She looked up to see Sinbad's blue eyes reflecting his guilt and apology. She sighed and removed her hand. "Don't let it happen again, you hear me?"

"I understand, Jeanne. Sorry and thanks." He whispered in her ear. Then he raised his voice so his dad would be able to hear. "Sorry about the foul language, doctor. Normally I wouldn't have reacted like that, but I've already used up a month's worth of pain tolerance." Sinbad said ruefully.

"I understand Sinbad. Your body must metabolize the numbing agent quicker than most. This ought to do the trick." He said as her applied more numbing and started to sew again. This time Sinbad didn't feel anything.

In a fairly short order, Dr. Nagoya had Chiaki sewn and bandaged back up. He then checked on Jeanne shoulder, but it was fine and healing rapidly. The doctor then raised the front half of the mattress up, so the bed became more of a couch. Both teens rearranged themselves so that they were sitting up and snuggled together. Toudaiji cleared his throat then, and all eyes turned to look at him.

"In light of Sinbad's incident, I've decided that I'll just hold the investigation and questioning here." He announced, bringing his chair over to sit between the two beds, facing Sinbad's bed. Miyako quickly copied him.

"Detective, may I stay? Should either of the Kaitous take a turn for the worse, I would like to be on hand to take care of them." Dr. Nagoya said in way of explanation. Both Maron and Chiaki had frozen at Toudaiji's statement, and Chiaki almost groaned out loud when Toudaiji paused then nodded.

_Great so now my dad is going to be staying with us. I'd better be doubly careful not to say anything to tip them off._ He thought as his father pulled his chair over and sat down.

"Kuso." Jeanne cursed under her breath.

"My thoughts exactly. Just remember, they can't force us to speak." Sinbad replied just as quietly. Both then shut up when Toudaiji pulled out a recorder and turned it on.

He asked them a number of questions, ranging from where the stolen items were to whether they were working for someone. Each question was met by silence and blank faces.

Miyako had stayed silent as her father questioned the two Kaitous. She took in their appearance and pondered what kept them disguised. She was almost positive they used magic, how else could Jeanne get those bracelets on and off? That and they had already shown that at least one of them had superhuman powers, so both probably did.

_That would explain how they steal their targets without ever touching them._ Miyako thought, covertly looking at both Kaitous. Jeanne's rosary was on the bedside table, so Miyako was fairly sure that wasn't what kept the magic disguising her up.

He eyes then slid up to the Kaitous' heads and Miyako noticed something. Both had some kind of hair restraint. _Maybe that's it! Sinbad's headband and Jeanne's hair ribbon. If I pulled those off, then their transformations should reverse and I'll finally be able to unmask Jeanne's identity!_

Miyako almost smiled, but she kept her face blank to prevent the Kaitous' suspicion. She saw that her father was getting annoyed at Jeanne and Sinbad's silence so she decided that now would be the best time. Both were positioned to the left side of Sinbad's bed, where the table was that held Jeanne's rosary.

Jeanne saw Miyako stand up, her eyes on the rosary beside Jeanne. She walked over as Toudaiji continued firing questions at her and Sinbad. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sinbad keeping an eye on Miyako as well.

But all Miyako did was pick up the rosary and inspect it from all angles. So Jeanne turned most of her attention back to Toudaiji as Sinbad copied her. She did keep half an eye on Miyako though.

She saw Miyako turn to put it back down as Sinbad groaned in annoyance and tucked her head under his chin. His head almost was directly on top of hers, and when he whispered, Jeanne felt his vocal cords beside her ear.

"Is he ever going to shut up?" Sinbad grumbled as Access, who now sat on Sinbad's lap nodded and yawned in boredom. Maron couldn't see Chiaki's face but she could just see his expression: eyes closed forehead scrunched and a petulant but cute pout on his lips.

She was shrugging her shoulders when she saw Miyako suddenly spin and raise her hands.

Miyako saw Sinbad place his head on top of Jeanne's and knew it was now or never. She finished placing the rosary back on the table and started to turn back to her father, like she was going to walk away.

Then, with all the agility she could muster, Miyako spun and reached up, one hand grasping Sinbad's headband, the other seizing one of the ends of Jeanne's hair ribbon. Half excited, half scared, Miyako then pulled sharply, yanking off Sinbad's headband and pulling out Jeanne's ribbon.

Chiaki heard a swish of cloth and suddenly a hand was gripping his headband. His eyes shot open to see Miyako with one hand on Jeanne's ribbon end and the other on his headband. He heard Maron gasp and saw her raise her hand to stop Miyako, even as Chiaki started to raise his hand to grab Miyako's.

But his hands were either handcuffed or wrapped around Maron and Maron was in a similar position. Time seemed to almost stop as he felt the headband being pulled off his head and saw Jeanne's ribbon start coming undone.

He looked down at Access and saw the panic in his partner's eyes. Then Access smirked, raised his hands and floated up to hover in front of Sinbad's face. Chiaki knew what the angel was going to do as surely as if he had read Access' mind.

But Access' plan wouldn't help Maron any. Her rosary was on the table, too far away for her to grab in time. _Kuso, this is not going to be pleasant with my wounds._ Chiaki thought as he saw Access' hands and forehead drop glow and felt time resume its normal pace.

Chiaki moved quickly, grabbing Maron as her ribbon came free and his headband left his hair and pulling her towards him with his left arm. With his right he grabbed his covers and raised them over her head, which was now in his lap.

As he swept the covers over her enough to cover her civilian outfit, Chiaki saw her hair shortening and turning back to brown and her clothes start to replace the hospital pajamas. Even as he saw his bangs started changing color, he saw her worried brown eyes looking up at him as he covered her completely.

From the moment he had grabbed the covers, Chiaki had felt Access forming his spell. As the blanket fell over Maron, Chiaki felt the spell envelope him swiftly. It felt like he was being wrapped in a cocoon made of wind and Chiaki's vision was obscured for a moment by the blue light of the spell.

The light dissipated quickly and Chiaki felt a new headband encircling his head and the outfit he wore as Sinbad clothing him. _Just like the first time Access gave me my powers and Kaitou form._ Sinbad thought, remembering that day, and his surprise at the time, clearly.

"Whew! I was afraid I wouldn't make it in time." Sinbad looked up to see a very relieved Access floating in front of his face. He then looked up to see the trio looking at him with mixed expressions.

His father was surprised and Detective Toudaiji looked cheated and disappointed. And Miyako looked triumphant then livid as her plan had initially succeeded but was foiled by Sinbad. Sinbad smirked and 'keh'ed at her.

Access, who had floated over to the bedside table now was flying back laboriously. In his tiny arms he held the rosary. His actions now had the attention of Miyako, her father and his father, for they only saw the rosary moving through the air on its own.

"Shimatta, this thing is heavy! Why can't it weigh as much as the angel feather it actually is?" Access complained as Sinbad stretched out his hand to grab the object from his partner. He felt Maron stirring slightly under the covers as his partner spoke.

Access gratefully dropped the rosary into Sinbad's gloved hand, and Maron snuck her uncuffed left hand out from underneath the blanket. Sinbad quickly transferred the object to her hand and looked up at Access' hiss of warning.

Toudaiji and Miyako were converging upon him clearly intending to rip the blanket off Maron. He plunged his hand into his coat as he saw Maron's hand disappear under the covers. He pulled out his folded up tri-boomerang and unfolded it with a snap.

He aimed it at Toudaiji as Access flew at Miyako, hitting her in the face. She cried out, backing up from the bed, trying to get away from her unseen attacker. Toudaiji froze when Sinbad had aimed his weapon at the detective, and was now looking worriedly at his daughter.

While Access continued to drive Miyako back and Sinbad held off Toudaiji, Chiaki heard Maron whisper her incantation and felt the magic swirl around her covered body. A second later, Jeanne sat up, pulling the covers off her head, determination blazing in her violet eyes.

"I'm sorry Miyako, but I won't let you unmask me tonight. Doctor, thank you very much for your services." Jeanne said as Sinbad nodded in heartfelt agreement. While Miyako and her father started forward to stop the Kaitous Jeanne pulled out her wand and flicked it twice. The ribbon sliced through the chains of her handcuffs and Sinbad's as if they were made of butter.

Both then jumped to their feet, Sinbad wincing as he did so. But he quickly discovered that even though his father had did his considerable best, Chiaki just was too drained and in too much pain to do much other than stand there, swaying.

He started to topple forward but Jeanne caught him, draping most of his weight over her shoulders. Chiaki heard his father cry out in alarm, telling him to lay back down before he did himself more injury. Chiaki ignored his father's advice.

"Thanks, Jeanne. I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to be more of a burden than help for a little while." He whispered as Jeanne wrapped her arm around his waist.

"That's alright, Sinbad. What you did earlier will more than make up for this." Maron replied as she jumped into the air, supporting Sinbad's limp body. She landed beside the bed and in front of the only window in the room.

"I'll open the window Maron!" Access said and flew behind her. Jeanne kept her eyes on Miyako and her father. Toudaiji had pulled out his gun and had it aimed at Jeanne, while Miyako had two sets of handcuffs in her hands.

"Jeanne, surrender. Drop the wand, lay Sinbad down and put your hands in the air." Toudaiji said firmly, with a hint of regret for having to resort to his gun. Jeanne looked at him sympathetically before bringing her wand up rapidly.

Lashing out, Jeanne wrapped her ribbon around the gun and jerked the wand, pulling the weapon out of Toudaiji's hands and sending the gun into the far corner. She heard Sinbad chuckle as she felt a slight breeze shift her hair and cool her neck.

Without looking behind her, she backed up, shifting Sinbad to lay on her back. He obligingly wrapped his arms around her shoulders as Jeanne hooked her hands behind his knees. Access flew around to hover between the Kaitous and the other three.

"I'll make sure they don't jump you. Go Jeanne!" the angel said, and Jeanne nodded. She turned, pulling Sinbad's knees up to hip level and getting a better grip on her wand. She then jumped out the open window.

"Stop Jeanne! Come back here! Shimatta!" Miyako's angry shout followed her as she leaped away from the building. She guessed that they had been on the seventh floor as she and Sinbad started dropping.

Freeing her right hand, Jeanne sent out her ribbon catching a light fixture on a parking lot light pole. Swinging in a pendulum motion the two Kaitou headed to the nearest park. Jeanne landed on a large tree branch, putting away her ribbon wand as both heard the sirens start wailing.

"Thanks Maron. Is your shoulder okay?" Sinbad was pale and sweating from the pain of his injuries.

"Yeah. Are you okay? Did any other stitches pop?" at Chiaki's headshake, Maron continued, "Climb back onto my back. I'm strong enough to get us both back to our apartment complex's roof.

Sinbad nodded and wrapped his arms around Jeanne's shoulders again. Jeanne picked up his legs and pushed off the branch, launching them both into the air, Access flying beside them.

About ten minutes later the couple landed on the roof of their apartment complex. Sinbad shook his dizziness away and raised his head from Jeanne's shoulder as they landed and she let his feet touch the ground. She then used her wand to cut the rest of their cuffs off.

"Maron we should de-henshin now. That way if someone sees us coming down from the roof…" Sinbad wearily lifted an eyebrow and smiled at Jeanne's blush.

"They'll think of us just as a couple coming back from a secret rendezvous on the roof. Good idea." She pulled the ribbon from her hair as Sinbad pulled his headband off. Magic shimmered in the air and then the two Kaitous reverted to Maron and Chiaki.

They slowly made their way down the stairs to the seventh floor, Chiaki putting on a performance that would make professional actors weep with envy. He managed to look completely normal as they exited the stairwell and made their way to Maron's door, which was closer.

Chiaki leaned discreetly on Maron's shoulder as she unlocked the door and they entered her dark apartment. They slid their shoes off and Maron guided Chiaki to her bed, sitting him down on it.

She didn't bother to light any lamps save her bedside one as she grabbed her nightclothes and went to the bathroom to change. When she came back out, Chiaki was wrestling with his shirt, trying to get it off without disturbing his stomach wound as Access fluttered worriedly beside him.

"Here, Chiaki. You're going to hurt yourself more." Maron said gently, pulling the offending garment off. Chiaki smiled in gratitude as she laid the shirt on the ground and pulled off his socks.

Then, as both blushed, Maron helped him remove his pants, leaving him sitting in his boxers and undershirt. As she watched Chiaki swayed slightly, his face drawn and pale with pain.

"Lay down, Chiaki, before you fall." Maron sighed good naturedly and he nodded wearily. She helped pull the blanket out from under him then over him as he slowly stretched out his length on the bed. She heard him hissing as he shifted positions and the sigh when he was fully lying down.

"I'll be right back Chiaki." Maron said, turning to head to the bathroom. As she did, she saw that Access had found Fin's old bed and was already asleep, snoring slightly. She smiled and entered the bathroom.

Chiaki waited, trying not to pay much attention to his wounds, and the pain radiating from them. He heard Maron's soft footfalls coming his way and cracked open his eyes to peer through the gloom.

She had two cups of water in her hands and a small bottle under her arm. She placed all three items on the bedside table and then picked up the bottle. It was extra strength aspirin, Chiaki could see, and she poured out some of the small white pills.

Taking three for herself, she handed the other three to Chiaki. She took hers quickly then helped Chiaki raise his head enough for him to get his down.

"Arigatou, Maron." She nodded and placed both cup on the table again. She then rose and started walking to the couch, which Chiaki could tell that she was planning to sleep on. Panic rose in him, as memories of the hellish experiences he had gone through earlier then later had nightmares about flashed through his head. His only anchor to peace and strength was walking away, leaving him alone.

"Matte! Please, don't leave me alone." Chiaki begged, hating the weakness and pleading coloring his voice, but was powerless to prevent it. Maron turned, startled at Chiaki's tone, and looked at him. Chiaki had his right hand, which was trembling with weariness, outstretched towards her. His face was pained and Maron saw the naked fear shining from Chiaki's brown eyes.

Chiaki saw her light brown eyes soften and she walked back. Reaching out, she took his right hand in her left, sitting down on the bed as she did so. Chiaki looked up her, his head nestled on her pillow and his eyes deep and vulnerable. Maron cupped his cheek with her right hand, trying to ease his fear.

"Chiaki, what's wrong? You're scaring me." Maron said quietly. Chiaki, startled and angry with himself for scaring Maron, spoke.

"How am I scaring you?"

"You're scared. You're never scared Chiaki. You're always strong and courageous."

"I…" Chiaki paused, trying to find the words and strength to tell Maron why he was so scared. He looked up and saw how worried his silence was making Maron and forced himself to continue. "I'm scared of myself. Of my memories, my nightmares, even my own body." He whispered.

Maron had to stain her hearing to the limit to catch the last part. Chiaki turned away from her looking at the wall and inadvertently, placing his lips on the palm of Maron's hand, which was still cupping his face.

To his shame, Chiaki felt tears forming in his eyes and hastily closed them, trying to stop. But one managed to escape, sliding down his cheek to encounter Maron's fingers.

"Chiaki, look at me." came Maron's soft command. Chiaki obeyed, peering through the tears to look into her beautiful eyes. "Talk to me. What do you mean by 'I'm scared of myself'?" She continued and used her thumbs to wipe away his tears. Chiaki choked down a sob and licked his lips.

"What happened when the demons possessed me, the memories of it are haunting me. That's what that nightmare I had in the hospital was about. I know that if I'm alone, I'll become trapped in them. I don't want to have anymore nightmares." Maron smiled softly and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

"Then I won't leave you alone, Chiaki. I'll stay by your side." Chiaki looked relieved and attempted a smile. "Demo, what do you mean by saying you're afraid of your own body?" Chiaki tensed, but didn't turn away from her.

"Back when the demons were forcing my body to molest you, I felt nauseous and horribly shamed, demo my body…" Chiaki trailed off, shuddering as he recalled just how his body had reacted.

"Demo your body… what?" Maron asked softly, sensing how hard this was for Chiaki, but she knew that he need to talk about it or it would poison him from the inside. Chiaki gulped 

and found his voice again as she started running her fingers through his soft hair, massaging his scalp.

"My body was…aroused by what the demons were making me do to you. I knew that most of that was the demons' doing, but there was the possibility that some of it was my own body's reaction, my own desires. It sickened me the way the waves of heat and warped pleasure swept through my body." Chiaki shuddered at the memory of those sensations, and turned his tortured eyes to look into Maron's sympathetic and accepting ones. Drawing in a ragged breath Chiaki continued.

"That's why it took so long for the demons to force my body to ignore the pain and attack you again. I've never been actually kneed in the groin before but I've heard stories. And the pain from when you kneed me was ten times worse than any of the stories I was told." Chiaki mused, seizing the distraction, minor and off topic as it was, with relief.

"I'm sorry I had to do that to you Chiaki. I didn't want to, but it was only way I could think of to get away from you, or rather, the demons possessing you." Maron blushed.

"Don't be, Maron. I was begging you in my mind to do something, anything to get my body away from you. I was glad you did that, no matter how much pain it caused me. I could read the main demon's mind, so I knew what he was planning to do and would have done had you not kneed me." Chiaki shuddered again.

"What was it going to do, Chiaki?" Maron whispered, half afraid to know.

"It was going to use my body to rape you, then stab you to death after my body had climaxed." Chiaki whispered in shame, gazing up at Maron horrified face. Maron gasped and shook her head, recoiling from him slightly unconsciously.

But the next second she shifted so that she was lying beside him and had his head cradled against her chest, so Chiaki could smell her delicate perfume. She ran her fingers through his hair soothingly, trying to relax his too tense body.

"Oh God Chiaki, I understand now why you wanted me to get away from your body so badly that you were glad when I hurt you." She whispered, imagining how Chiaki would've felt had the demons been able to carry out their plan.

"That's what that nightmare from the hospital was about. In the dream the demons actually did use me to rape you. It was… horrible. You were in such agony, physical and mental, the demons were laughing maliciously and my body was reveling in the twisted erotic pleasure it was experiencing from raping you. Then, as…my body climaxed, the demons made my body drive the dagger into your chest, right at your breastbone. So it would take longer for you to die.

"I could see your soul through your eyes. You were so broken and in such agony and the tears were pouring down your face as I laughed and pulled the dagger out. The demons made my body lick it, and I was still in you, still raping you.

"Then all three of the demons left my body. Most of the pleasure left, but some was still there, I could taste your blood in my mouth, could see you dying beneath me. I pulled out of you and tried to stop the blood, tried to save you. But you died, right in my arms, the demons and Myst laughing around me. That's when I heard you scream my name and I was able to wake up." Chiaki finished, tearing pouring down his face to soak the pillow and Maron's night shirt.

"Chiaki…" Maron half whispered, half sobbed as she hugged his head to her breast and molded her body against his, trying vainly to be a physical barrier between Chiaki and his memories. She could feel the sobs racking Chiaki's body as he struggled to rid himself of the images and sensations he had been forced to relive.

"Shh, it's over now, you're safe, I'm not going to leave you." She whispered soothingly in his ear, feeling his body relax ever so little. She remembered that he had said that he was afraid that it had been his own desires that had made his body react when the demons were controlling him. And she recalled what he had said.

"Chiaki, you said that your soul, which was never tainted by the demons, was repulsed and shamed by the sensations running through your body, right?" Maron felt Chiaki nod. "Then the pleasure your body was experiencing was 100 generated by the demons."

"How can you be sure?" Chiaki asked, hope coloring his words.

"Because your soul didn't receive pleasure, only nausea and shame. Your soul, not your body dictates what gives you pleasure and what doesn't. It wasn't you, Chiaki, none of that pleasure was your own." Maron stated softly but firmly. After a second, Maron felt Chiaki relax almost completely, like a load just left his shoulders.

"…you're right Maron. Doomo arigatou." Chiaki paused then continued in a smaller voice. "Demo, stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone." Maron smiled.

"Of course." She replied and slipped under the covers beside him. Chiaki scooted over painfully so she wasn't about to fall off the bed and she had some of the pillow. Careful of her shoulder he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

She in turn wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his embrace. They fell asleep like that, both sheltering and comforting the other. Access smiled at the sleeping couple, glad that both were on the mend, physically and spiritually. He then flew back to his bed and went back to sleep.

The End

Notes:

Arigatou/Doomo arigatou – thank you/thank you very much

Demo – but

Kuso – shit

Shimatta – damn (interjection)

**HB here: too tired to do much more other than post this. Really tired, my muse knows why, cause she's all seeing and all knowing. Heh, that and I'm im-ing her right now. and I've now got a facebook account, thanks to my lovely muse.**

**Okay, very tired now, so until next time…**

**Ja ne!**


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